
The Engagement Specialist, Stroger Linkage is a member of the Assertive Community Linkage Team under the Cook County Health and Human Services (CCHHS) project aimed at reducing Emergency Department (ED) use. The Engagement Specialist reports to the Team Leader, Stroger Linkage.
The Assertive Community Linkage Team works with high utilizers of the Stroger Hospital ED, who have multiple presentations due to unmanaged mental health and/or substance use conditions. This team will work closely with the staff of CCHHS, Stroger Hospital, and the Thresholds Crisis Team at Stroger Hospital to locate and assertively pursue engagement with assigned individuals. The team will provide mental health and care coordination services in the community and will assist people with applying for Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income or Social Security Disability Income (SSI/SSDI) and other public benefits. The team will help people access resources, including short‐term or emergency housing. The team will also work to link people with community‐based primary healthcare and psychiatry, will assist people with getting prescriptions filled, and will coordinate transportation to follow‐up medical appointments. The Assertive Community Linkage team will also work closely with Thresholds Evaluations Department to monitor member engagement and outcomes and report to CCHHS.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
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WHAT SETS THRESHOLDS APART
Thresholds is a mission-driven agency with a deep commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We foster an environment where all feel valued and respected, a place where every employee can be themselves, thrive, and support the agency’s mission. Click here to learn more.
One of the oldest and largest community mental health organizations in Illinois, we pride ourselves in being a Chicago Tribune Top Workplace and one of Chicago’s 101 Best & Brightest Companies to Work For, several years in a row.
Thresholds is one of the oldest and largest providers of recovery services for persons with mental illnesses and substance use disorders in Illinois. We offer 30 innovative programs at more than 75 locations throughout Chicago, the adjacent suburbs, and four surrounding counties. Services include assertive outreach, case management, housing, employment, education, psychiatry, primary care, substance use treatment, and research.
Thresholds’ staff meets people where they are – out in the community. Offering services in a community-based setting makes them more accessible and effective and lessens the social exclusion that is often present in the lives of persons living with mental illnesses and substance use conditions. This allows our staff and clients to work on skills, clinical interventions, and recovery that allows them to live independent lives in their own neighborhoods
Our clients are all unique – coming from vastly different backgrounds and arriving with different needs, talents, and hopes. Each client works with our staff to set their own specific short-term goals and objectives, based on their needs, desires, and level of self-sufficiency.
Recovery from mental illnesses and substance use is possible. Recovery is a process of finding and living a satisfying and meaningful life, as one defines it for oneself. We assist our clients as they work to reclaim a positive sense of self, and discover their own potential, gifts, and skills.
IDEAS at Thresholds: Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access to advance Social Justice
We respect, honor, and value diversity and we are invested in creating an inclusive culture that is compassionate, committed, and caring.